Backsliding on the gender wage gap

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Snapshot for December 20, 2000.

Backsliding on the gender wage gap

The gender gap — the difference between male and female wages — actually increased slightly over the course of this economic boom between 1993 and 1999. The figure below shows that the gap increased more among African American workers (African American women’s wages relative to African American men’s wages) than among white workers.

The gender gap differs across age groups as well as by race. Much of the increase in the gender gap between 1993 and 1999 occurred among younger workers. The second figure below shows that, in 1993, among full-time workers age 18-25, African American women actually earned more, on average, relative to African American men. However, by 1999, the gender wage gap among African Americans increased by so much that 18-25 year old African American women were worse off, relative to African American men, than they had been in 1989. Among young white workers, women have yet to reach parity, and the gender gap rose substantially from 1993 to 1999, so that it, too, is higher than its 1989 level.

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